


New Destiny

by orphan_account



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Coming of Age, Cute Ending, Evolution as a Metaphor for Puberty sort of??, Family, Fate & Destiny, Gen, Sage Advice, Screw Destiny, Unexpected Evolution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 09:53:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15992771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Sonny the Eevee had never had any doubts about what he was going to be, so he had never bothered to consider any alternatives. When his Choosing Ceremony doesn't go the way he planned, how will he cope with the new form he finds himself in? What will it take to convince him that his life isn't over?





	New Destiny

Sonny the Eevee had never had any doubts about what he was going to be.

Many young Eevee spent the better part of their adolescence trying to figure out what to evolve into, if they wanted to evolve at all. For some, the decision was simple. They would be either a Vaporeon or a Sylveon, and it was a matter of how they felt at the time that would determine the change. For others, it was much more complicated. Maybe five of the eight evolutions sounded appealing, but none in particular jumped out as “The One.”

Sonny was neither of these, because from birth, it seemed, he knew that he was going to be a Flareon.

The elders in his family were disbelieving of his certainty. They would ask him, “Well now, how can you be so sure? You’re still so young! You couldn’t have possibly made up your mind yet.”

Grinning cheekily, Sonny would always reply, “Of course I’ve made up my mind! You named me Sonny, after all. How could it be more obvious?”

A lot of the other Eevee his age were jealous of him. Some circles shunned him completely, unable to control their frustrations toward him and themselves. Sonny took this all in stride. He had good, loyal friends who liked him no matter what. It wasn’t in his nature to let the petty ones get to him.

On the day of his Choosing Ceremony, Sonny was absolutely ecstatic. He rambled away to his friends and his elders, going on and on about all the fantastic things he would be once he evolved.

“I’m gonna be the coolest Flareon you’ve ever seen! I’m gonna blow fire out of my mouth like this,” he said, imitating the move Flamethrower to demonstrate, “and, and I’m gonna run super quick, and I’m gonna win every single battle!”

“I'm sure you will,” one elder agreed dismissively. The others followed suit, nodding and mumbling along as they all made their way to the Choosing Grounds.

Only one of the elders was silent. A Leafeon, the oldest of them all, trudged ahead gracefully, not saying a word. The aroma of fallen leaves radiated off of him. To Sonny, this was a comforting scent. For as little as the Elder Leafeon talked, he was an amazingly calming presence. It was something that Sonny had always admired about him.

Once all of the young ones and their families had arrived, the Ceremony began. It took place in a large clearing with seating almost all the way around. In the middle of the clearing sat three Stones: one Water, one Fire, and one Thunder. On the edge of the clearing, a large Moss Rock jutted up from the ground. On the exact opposite side, an identical stone covered in a thick layer of ice rose up toward the sky. Five of the eight evolutions were to be chosen there. The remaining three were to be chosen elsewhere, after a period of training.

One by one, young Eevee left their families to approach the center of the clearing. Some chose to touch a stone, taking their forms as Jolteon, Flareon, and Vaporeon. Some made their decision to have a battle in front of the Ice or Moss Rocks, taking their forms as Leafeon and Glaceon. Some announced their intention to train, and those were ushered into a group that would travel somewhere far from home. They would come back as Espeon, Umbreon, and Sylveon.

The wait for Sonny’s own turn was excruciating. As he watched countless numbers of his peers take their first step into adulthood, he became more and more excited. The anticipation had built up inside of him so much that when his turn finally came, he nearly sprinted into the center of the clearing. His eyes were trained on the one stone that would give him everything he had ever wanted. It was his destiny packed into a crystal just bigger than his paw.

Emphasis on _was_.

Just as he was about to touch the stone and seal his fate, a body similar to his own in shape and size rammed into him from the side. Sonny was thrown across the clearing, skidding as he landed. The crowd around him gasped.

Lifting himself to his feet and shaking the dirt from his fur, Sonny glared ahead at the Eevee who had Tackled him. They were nearly identical, as most Eevee were. In a lot of ways it was like looking in a mirror. Their expressions were equally sour, and their postures were both annoyed, almost enraged. Sonny could only guess that this was one of the jealous Eevee; the only one brave enough to do something reckless.

“You’ve never worried about anything!” the Eevee barked, her shoulders tensing further. “You’ve spent your whole life bragging about your future, so I’m not gonna make it easy for you!”

“Fine!” Sonny roared back, crouching into a battle pose. “Bring it on!”

The other Eevee ran for him, attempting another Tackle. Sonny dodged and went for a Quick Attack. They danced in battle like this for some time. The crowd watched quietly, not cheering nor intervening. They understood that the battle was a rite of passage, linked to evolution in way no one had expected. Not a peep was made until a victor emerged, slightly injured but standing tall above the loser. Sonny lifted his head high as his friends began to holler, followed by his family, and finally the rest of the circle. He had won, just like he knew he would.

The only problem was the white light that started to surround him.

The crowd was shocked into silence once again. As Sonny was engulfed by the tell-tale luminescence, there wasn’t a thing that could be done to stop it. His mouth was frozen in a silent scream.

No… No… _NO-_

The light faded gradually after the change. Sonny knew from the first moment that everything had gone wrong. There was no heat in his belly from resting fire. His fur didn’t crackle with the power of flames. He felt too thin, too curvy, too much like... Grass

Looking back, he could see the Moss Rock looming over him. Its scarred face grinned at him cruelly, taunting him. It knew exactly what it had done. Instead of evolving into the Flareon he was always meant to be, the evil rock had turned him into a weaker, more fragile alternative: Leafeon. A Pokemon not meant to battle, nor do anything more than lay in the sun.

The anger, depression, and denial mixed inside of him so forcefully that it made his head spin. The clearing, still hosting so many families who had witnessed his embarrassment, suddenly felt too small, too claustrophobic. Breathing unevenly in his panicked state, Sonny fled from the scene, running as fast as he could toward home. Despite hearing his family cry after him, begging him to come back, he lowered his head and charged forward, not once looking back.

* * *

“Sonny.”

The voice fluttered through the air like a leaf falling from a tree. Sonny did his best to ignore it as it reached his ears, purposefully drowning it out with his own sobs. Curled up in his bed, sheltered by the walls of his own personal cave, he had no desire to see anyone; much less someone from his own family.

“Sonny, come on out.”

“No!” Sonny called back tearfully. “Just leave me alone, I wanna be alone!”

Sighing, the owner of the voice decided to enter anyway. He sat down carefully by Sonny’s bed, watching the younger Leafeon try desperately to move as far away as possible.

“I said, I wanna be-”

“Sonny, please.”

The curt tone made Sonny’s mouth shut in an instant. Elder Leafeon continued to look down at his form as it trembled.

“Can you sit up for me?” he asked. “I don’t want to talk to your back.”

Reluctantly, slowly, Sonny raised himself up from his bed. Doing that took him long enough on its own, but turning to face the elder took even longer. After all the trouble, he still couldn’t bear make eye contact with him. He couldn’t face his new mirror. It was one he had never wanted. It was one forced upon him. The ruiner of his destiny.

“You look so sad,” Elder Leafeon commented, “but I can’t imagine why. You’ve finally evolved. Aren’t you excited about that? Arceus knows you’ve been jabbering away about it for months.”

Sonny finally raised his head to stare at the elder incredulously. “I… Excited? How can I be excited when I... when I look like this? This isn’t at all what I wanted!”

“Why not?”

“Why not? Because! I’m not a Flareon!” Sonny nearly growled out. “I was always meant to be a Flareon, and then that other Eevee came up and, and...”

“And now you’re like me.”

The statement startled Sonny into silence. Elder Leafeon tilted his head slightly, waiting for a response. It was several moments before Sonny could come up with one.

“Well, I mean, yeah...” he said quietly, wiping his face with a paw. “It’s not like I don’t like you, or Leafeon, it’s just, it’s not what I wanted.”

Elder Leafeon grunted, taking some minutes of his own to think over the situation.

“Tell me,” he said finally, “why did you want to be a Flareon?”

“Why wouldn’t I want to be a Flareon?” Sonny answered back immediately. “It’s who I am. Flareon are cool, and fast, and good at battling. They’re just awesome!”

“You do realize that what you’re saying could apply to all the evolutions, right?”

Sonny hesitated. “Well, not really? Because Flareon is really tough, and other evolutions kind of... aren’t, you know?”

“Like... Leafeon, I assume.”

“No!” Sonny objects. “No, no, that’s not what I meant...”

“Then why are you so upset?” Elder Leafeon asked. “Regardless of your form now, you’re still the same Pokemon on the inside. You still have all the potential to be ‘cool’ and ‘fast’ and ‘good at battling.’ You might not be able to breathe fire, but being a Leafeon has its perks.”

“...Like what?”

“Like being able to photosynthesize your own food. You’ll never go hungry.”

Sonny shrugged a bit. “I mean... Yeah, that is kind of cool...”

“The air will always be fresh around you because of that, you know. I can’t think of another Pokemon that acts as a walking air purifier.”

“That’s... also pretty awesome,” Sonny admitted.

Elder Leafeon reached over to put a paw on Sonny’s shoulder. “I know you had your heart set on something, but now that things have changed, you really ought to make the best of it. Does that make sense?”

With a bit of resignation, Sonny sighed and replied, “Yeah, it does... You’re pretty smart, Elder Leafeon.”

“I know,” Elder Leafeon smiled, putting his paw back down. “It comes with old age.”

A quiet moment passed between them.

“Elder?”

“Mm?”

“Will it… ever get any easier?”

“It will,” Elder Leafeon nodded. “With time.”

“Right...”

“You know something, Sonny?”

“What?”

“I wanted to be an Espeon.”

Sonny’s eyes widened. “What, really?”

“Mhm,” Elder Leafeon hummed, adding with a bit of cheekiness, “but look at me now. I’m the oldest and smartest Pokemon you know.”

Grinning widely, Sonny replied, “Heh, yeah. I guess you are.”

* * *

 “Hey, stop it!”

“No, you stop it!”

“Ugh, you’re pulling on my fur!”

“You’re stepping on my paws!”

“Let go!”

“No, you let go!”

“How about you both let go?”

Two young Eevee shrieked simultaneously. The Rare Bone they were fighting over dropped to the ground with a dull _thud_. “Elder Leafeon!”

Older, wiser, and timelessly elegant, Sonny approached the scene. He settled down in a patch of sunlight on the ground, motioning with his head to usher the two Eevee over. “Come now, have a sit with me. Let’s chat.”

The two younglings shuffled over, their heads hanging in shame.

“We’re sorry, Elder Leafeon...”

“Yeah, so sorry...”

“I know, I know,” Sonny said, grooming one of the small ones as he sat down. “I just want to tell you a little story about roughhousing.”

“Is it the story of your evolution?”

“Yeah, is it?”

“Part of it, yes.”

The other young one let out a pained groan. “But we’ve heard that one a million times already!”

“Well, I guess a million isn’t enough if you’re still being rowdy,” Sonny tutted at her. “Now quiet down and listen, will you? It all started when I was around your age…”

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: [queenredwrites](https://queenredwrites.tumblr.com/)


End file.
